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public diplomacy

Official Iranian social media accounts share AI-generated Lego propaganda promoting its wartime narrative. (X)
May 13, 2026, 10:24 pm
From anti-Israel Legos to fake footage, Iran’s AI propaganda owns the digital battlefield
Harnessing artificial intelligence for cutesy songs and other content, Tehran proves adept at spreading its narrative, dominating Israel’s attempts to win hearts and minds of internet users
By Nava Freiberg
Protesters with the anti-Israel organization Jewish Voice for Peace block traffic during a demonstration outside the New York office of US Sen. Chuck Schumer, calling for an end to the US-Israel war with Iran and opposing US weapons support, April 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
April 30, 2026, 3:11 pm
Israel just quintupled its PR budget to $730 million; experts say it won’t work
Skeptic say that country’s image after Oct. 7 has become so tarnished by government policy and dereliction that even with vast public relations funds, it’s too late for a face lift
By Asaf Elia-Shalev
Foreign Affairs Minister Gideon Sa'ar at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem, January 18, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
April 28, 2026, 9:42 pm
Sa’ar scolds Ukraine for doing Twitter diplomacy — but he does just the same, as does everyone else
Foreign minister regularly praises and lashes out against his counterparts on X, like other politicians. After a decade-plus of Trump tweets, it’s the new diplomatic normal
By Ben Sales
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, speaks with Foreign Affairs Minister Gideon Sa'ar during a debate in the Knesset on March 26, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
October 1, 2025, 4:46 am
Inside Israel’s ‘Esther Project’: DOJ filings reveal paid US influencer campaign amid AI-powered PR blitz
As officials call social media the current war’s ‘eighth front,’ new documents reveal how Jerusalem is paying to shape US opinion
By Asaf Elia-Shalev
Charlie Kirk speaks just before he is shot during Turning Point's visit to Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, September 10, 2025. (Tess Crowley/The Deseret News via AP)
September 30, 2025, 2:10 pm
In letter to PM, Kirk said Israel getting ‘CRUSHED’ online, losing support on US right
Slain US conservative activist wrote to Netanyahu in May that Israel facing ‘5-alarm fire’ as conservative support erodes; said revamped effort could also help PM with his corruption trial
By ToI Staff
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar addresses a joint press conference with his Lithuanian counterpart at the Foreign Ministry in Vilnius on July 1, 2025. (Petras Malukas / AFP)
September 15, 2025, 4:26 pm
Foreign Ministry axes most programs for rest of year, including October 7 events
Ministry says diplomatic outposts can still show film of Hamas atrocities to select audiences; more than NIS 500 million had been budgeted for public diplomacy
By Lazar Berman, Jessica Steinberg and ToI Staff
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leads a cabinet meeting in Jerualem on September 7, 2025. (GPO/screenshot)
September 7, 2025, 6:57 pm
Netanyahu says Israel ‘paying the price’ on world stage for war in Gaza
Despite PM’s comments, cabinet delays discussion of plan to establish new media office inside Foreign Ministry; Sa’ar, Netanyahu disagree on appointment mechanism
By Lazar Berman
Or Taasa, left, and Gil Taasa (Courtesy)
August 30, 2025, 1:14 am
PM releases new Oct. 7 footage of terrorists murdering father in front of two sons
In public diplomacy push, Netanyahu’s office publishes CCTV clip from invasion of Netiv Ha’asara showing terrorists tossing grenade into shelter where Gil Taasa rushed his young boys
By ToI Staff
Former prime minister Naftali Bennett visits the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City, May 26, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
August 5, 2025, 8:26 pm
Bennett: Israel’s status in US ‘has never been so bad,’ it’s becoming a ‘leper state’
Lengthy post by former PM, who’s set to run in next elections, also castigates current government’s public diplomacy efforts
By Sam Sokol and ToI Staff
Protesters hold a banner calling for sanctions to be placed on Israel during a demonstration in support of Palestinians in Gaza amid fears of starvation in the war-torn territory outside Downing Street in London on July 29, 2025. (JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP)
August 1, 2025, 9:28 am
Failing on the 8th front: The mounting cost of Israel’s dysfunctional public diplomacy
As shocking images from Gaza shape global outrage and turn allies cold, officials say they are working to improve Israel’s messaging — but the effort remains leaderless and disjointed
By Nava Freiberg
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar (R) and Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel inaugurate a “Media War Room” at the Foreign Ministry, March 11, 2025. (Mordechai Gordon/Foreign Ministry)
March 12, 2025, 6:41 am
Foreign Ministry opens ‘media war room’ to combat anti-Israel content
Ministry says diplomats and students will monitor news to ‘identify false or biased reports’ so spokespeople can then ‘debunk accusations and present Israel’s narrative’
By Nava Freiberg
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar makes a video statement on December 2, 2024. (Screenshot, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
December 29, 2024, 1:48 pm
Foreign Ministry to receive massive budget for public diplomacy abroad
Foreign Minister Sa’ar does not detail what money will be used for, but the hefty funding was part of deal for his joining Netanyahu government
By JTA and ToI Staff
File: Then-director of the Information Center Ministry of Culture and Sport Moshik Aviv speaks during a press conference ahead of Israel's 75th Independence Day Ceremony at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, on April 19, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
June 24, 2024, 2:22 am
Public Diplomacy Directorate said crumbling after departure of chief and most staff
Ex-staffer says many hired after Oct. 7 have left due to work conditions, delays in pay; PM’s wife reportedly intervening in selection process to ensure loyalist tapped for job
By ToI Staff
Eylon Levy speaks at a rally urging the return of Hamas-held hostages from Gaza, in London's Trafalgar Square, January 14, 2024. (Omri Dagan)
March 31, 2024, 11:54 am
The stunning rise, curious suspension and insistent return of Israel’s star spokesman
As Israel has struggled to make its case to the world since Oct. 7, Eylon Levy was a rare compelling English-speaking voice. So why was he pushed aside, and what is he doing about it?
By David Horovitz
Nisan Zeevi, far right, with other Lobby 1701 members at a ceremony to commemorate the battle of Tel Hai in 1920 on March 21, 2024. (Courtesy)
March 27, 2024, 5:30 pm
Civilians in Israel’s north lobby world leaders to make Hezbollah keep UN truce lines
Terror group refuses to withdraw forces as agreed in 2006’s UN Resolution 1701, making southern Lebanon a stronghold; Lobby 1701 works to prevent a repeat of the Oct. 7 massacre
By Diana Bletter
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